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Keeping it a secret from Dream officials, Melvin Manhoef fought on the recent DREAM.3 card on Sunday night in Japan, only a couple of weeks removed from surgery.
Manhoef fought and lost by way of knockout to Remy Bonjasky on April 26 in Amsterdam. The bout was part of the K-1 World Grand Prix 2008, fought under K-1 kickboxing rules.
On Sunday, May 11, in Saitama, Manhoef then fought under mixed martial arts rules, defeating Korean fighter Dae Won Kim in the first round of their fight at DREAM.3.
In his post-fight interview following the MMA bout, Manhoef revealed, “I didn't tell either Dream or K-1, but I was injured in my last fight against Remy Bonjasky. Because I received a lot of kicks and punches in the ribs, I had to have surgery to take out blood from behind the lung and I was hospitalized for seven days. So, I couldn't fight as aggressively as I wanted, I needed to be patient.”
This explains why he didnt look as impressive or explosive as usual at Dream 3, i hope he has a full recovery and gets the knockout in Manhoef fashion at Dream 4. WAR MANHOEF!

Hello guys, if you are like me wondering when a big deal would exchange hands so that the USA UFC events are broadcasted in the UK live on the night, then this could be what we have been waiting for. I have emailed Setanta sports over the last few weeks asking them if there are any plans in the pipe work or securing a deal with the UFC that hopefully gives us live coverage straight from the states.
They cant tell me too much but i did just receive this response ...
(Dear *****
Thank you for your e-mail. Please accept my apologies for the delay in response.
Due to exceptional demand for the Setanta Sports package, we have received a high volume of customer enquiries by e-mail and are therefore unable to reply within our usual timescales. We are working hard to ensure that we respond to you as soon as we can.
I'm delighted to inform you that Setanta Sports and The Ultimate Fighting Championship® (UFC) have signed a multi-year deal. From July this year, Setanta Sports 1 will be the exclusive home for all of the UFC’s big UK -and- US fights, plus all other UFC programming, in Britain and Ireland.
I hope you enjoy your viewing.)
... So hopefully this is the deal that gives us live events anywhere in the world !!
thank you SETANTA !!

As he prepares for what is being advertised as his last fight in the organization at UFC 84, Tito Ortiz is, as he so often has, talking about his belief that UFC fighters should make more money.
Ortiz told MMA Mania that he thinks fighters should make about 30% of revenues, and Michael Rome of Bloody Elbow crunches some numbers and says that would be a significant pay raise from where they are now.
But while it would be significantly more than they make now, it would be nowhere near as much as athletes in other sports make. Liz Mullen of Sports Business Journal reports that baseball players make 51% to 55% of MLB revenues, football players make 59% of NFL revenues, basketball players make 57% of NBA revenues and hockey players make 55.6% of NHL revenues.
That's not an apples-to-apples comparison, though, because UFC pays a lot more of its own costs for things like TV broadcasts than other sports leagues do. No one would suggest that UFC should pay more than half of its revenue to its fighters.

Former UFC heavyweight champ Randy Couture was a guest on the Opie and Anthony Show with, of all people, Pat Cooper, and he discussed payment for mixed martial arts fighters (Warning, foul language):
(Via MMA Mania) When asked if the money is getting better, Couture said, "I think that's one of the things that needs to change in our sport."
Couture then added that every single UFC fighter combined makes less money for all of the organization's pay-per-view shows than Floyd Mayweather makes for one boxing match. (Mayweather is the second-highest-paid boxer in the world; Oscar De La Hoya is first.)
Couture said he has "no beef" with UFC President Dana White, but he just wants to get paid a fair market value for his work and that won't happen while he's under contract to UFC. I think Couture is basically right that the fighters in UFC aren't paid enough, but I also worry that fighters leaving UFC for greener pastures would be good for their short-term financial gain but bad for the long-term health of the sport.
One other interesting note from the interview: When Cooper asked Couture whether his opponents are ever afraid, Couture said, "Some guys are, you can see that."

Our latest MMAjunkie.com poll results surprised just about everyone, including the panel on this past Friday's edition of "Inside MMA."
Last week we ran a simple but what proved to be a telling question: "Have you attended a live MMA event in the past year."
The results were revealed on "Inside MMA," and they should have fight promoters -- especially those who plan to rely solely on ticket sales -- taking notice.
When all the votes were tallied, 51 percent of respondents said they haven't been to a show in the past year while 49 percent said they had. That means a big segment of the MMA fan base -- one committed enough to frequent an MMA news site and weekly MMA TV show -- hasn't bought a single ticket to an MMA event in the past 12 months.

DREAM on Sunday held its second event in two weeks at the Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan before 21,789 fans.
The focus was on the second round of the promotion’s lightweight grand prix. Caol Uno upset Mitsuhiro Ishida to move on in the tournament, along with Eddie Alvarez and Tatsuya Kawajiri.
In fact, Alvarez’s performance was part of a fight that is already being considered a candidate for “fight of the year.”
After a tumultuous week, Nick Diaz proved his mettle, defeating Katsuya Inoue midway through the first round. He earned a shot at the DREAM welterweight championship. Diaz will now face Hayato “Mach” Sakurai on July 21 at DREAM.5.
MMAWeekly.com’s Scott Petersen was there to capture all of the action.

I once said of Syriana — labeled as one of the smartest films of the last decade — “Just because it’s hard to follow, doesn’t mean it’s smart.”
Something similar can be said of David Mamet’s Redbelt. Just because it’s vague, doesn’t mean it’s Zen.
Redbelt follows jiu-jitsu master Mike Terry (Chiwetel Eliofor), who is down on his luck financially and forced — because of a strange series of events — to enter a mixed martial arts tournament run by manipulative, crooked promoters. Fighting for competition goes against Terry’s philosophy and integrity, but he must do it to save his dojo, as well as to satisfy several other debts he incurs during the course of the film.
Writer/director David Mamet (best known for writing the stage and screenplays for the brilliant Glengarry Glen Ross) spins a complex web of plot points — probably too complex for the length of the film. But Eliofor is outstanding as the lead actor, which makes the film interesting until the end.
It costars Tim Allen (who is surprisingly good as an aging action film star and boozehound), Alice Braga (Terry’s hardnosed, opportunistic wife), Max Martini (Terry’s prize pupil/police officer), Emily Mortimer (a frazzled lawyer whose inability to deal with a recent tragedy launches this entire series of events), Rodrigo Santoro (Terry’s corrupt brother-in-law), Joe Mantegna (a crooked Hollywood producer) and Ricky Jay (a crooked fight promoter).

“I’m kind of going in blind for this fight. I just trained everything for this fight. For [Goran Reljik], there is no information at all. I just have to be 100% for everything. He’s supposed to be a very good jiu-jitsu guy. Every Croatian guy is supposed to be a very good striker. I’m not taking him as just being a jiu-jitsu fight…. To be honest, I pulled four wins in a row. My last fights I won by submission or knockout. I was expecting a real tough (opponent). It’s no problem. I fight anybody they put against me. I want to fight a big name. If I could pick the fights I want right now, I would like to fight Chuck (Liddell) or a rematch against Keith (Jardine). They are the two guys that are in my mind right now. I’m taking this fight very seriously though. I trained very hard. I’m training very much to be the next UFC light heavyweight champion.”
Wilson Gouveia tells MMAWeekly.com that he does not know much about his upcoming opponent at UFC 84: “Ill Will,” Goran Reljik. It sounds as though Gouveia — who has four straight wins and just one loss (Keith Jardine) inside the Octagon — would have been happier with more noteworthy opponent. His fight with Reljik will be televised on the pay-per-view (PPV) main card, which means that he might just get his wish next time out with a win or exciting fight at the MGM Grand Garden Arena.

Blaisdel Arena, a 9,000-capacity venue located in downtown Honolulu, will host EliteXC's June 14 event in Hawaii.
The main card of the "EliteXC: Hawaii 2," currently headlined by a fight between EliteXC lightweight champion K.J. Noons (6-2) and Yves Edwards (34-13-1), airs on Showtime at 10 p.m. ET/PT.
EliteXC Vice President Jared Shaw today confirmed the event details, including the hosting venue and latest fight card, with MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com).
Noons will return to action for the first time since November, when he defeated Nick Diaz for the first-ever EliteXC lightweight title. Noons excelled as an underdog and battered his veteran opponent with a number of blows that caused multiple facial cuts. A doctor intervened after the first round, which prompted a TKO victory for Noons.
He puts his title on the line against Edwards, a former UFC and PRIDE fighter. Edwards had suffered three straight losses, with five defeats in six fights, before bouncing back for a current three-fight win streak in EliteXC and HDNet Fights. He most recently defeated James Edson Berto via flying knee. The first-round TKO came back in February at "EliteXC: Street Certified."
The latest confirmed card for the June 14 event now includes:
* Champ K.J. Noons vs. Yves Edwards (for EliteXC lightweight title)
* Nick Diaz vs. Muhsin Corbbrey
* Tony Bonello vs. Murilo "Ninja" Rua
* Dave Herman vs. Ron Waterman
* Wayne Cole vs. Rafael Feijao
Although unannounced and unconfirmed, "The Ultimate Fightert 7" cast member Paul Bradley, who was sent home in the season's third episode because of a contagious skin condition, could also be booked for the event. He recently inked a deal with ProElite, Inc., after the UFC declined to sign him to a contract.

The American Fight League has announced its full card for May 30's "AFL: BULLETPROOF," the first-ever mixed martial arts event to take place at the Phillips Arena in Atlanta.
Three titles will be on the line as AFL lightweight champ Diego Saraiva meets challenger Josh Cate, and AFL welterweight title-holder Douglas Lima takes on Brent Weedman.
Additionally, George Lockhart and George Allen meet for the AFL's first-ever AFL middleweight title, and UFC veteran Dan Christison takes on Sam Holloway.
The full card includes:
* Junior Assuncao vs. Torrance Taylor
* Champ Diego Saraiva vs. Josh Cate (for AFL lightweight title)
* Dan Christison vs. Sam Holloway
* Champ Douglas Lima vs. Brent Weedman (for AFL welterweight title)
* George "Loaded" Lockhart vs. George Allen (for first-ever AFL middleweight title)
* Robi Ramey vs. David curby
* Todd Duffee vs. Steve Banks
* Ethan Garrison vs. Willy Smalls
The AFL has also confirmed that two marquee signings will be revealed during the May 30 event. Both fighters will be in attendance.
Up until the AFL secured Phillips Arena, the Georgia Athletic and Entertainment Commission had never approved MMA for the 21,000-capacity arena. The card features a number of Atlanta-area fighters, including Saraiva, a UFC veteran.
Tickets for the event, which range from $27 to $202, are now on sale at Ticketmaster.

Ben Saunders (5-0-2 MMA, 1-0 UFC), who last competed in December at The Ultimate Fighter 6 Finale, is best known for his Jeet Kune Do style -- and his constant smiling during fights. Don't let the smile fool you, though; the American Top Team member is very serious about fighting.
MMAjunkie.com (www.MMAjunkie.com) recently had a chance to speak with the 25-year-old as he prepares for a fight against fellow "TUF 6" alumnus Jared Rollins.
Saunders spoke about a number of topics, including the recent UFC roster cuts, the upcoming UFC video game, his future in the welterweight division, and his upcoming fight at UFC 86 on July 5.
MMAJUNKIE.COM: Can you officially confirm that you will be fighting Jared Rollins at UFC 86?
BEN SAUNDERS: <laughs> I 'm never sure when it's OK to say something. I never want to make a mistake and say something I'm not supposed to say, but yeah, I can confirm it now. I'll be fighting J-Roc in July.

The day after his surprising dismantling of Alan Belcher (Pictures) at UFC 83 in Montreal last month, Jason Day (Pictures) told Sherdog.com that he wanted Michael Bisping (Pictures) as his next opponent.
Now, three weeks later, he has gotten his wish.
The UFC officially announced last week that the Canadian middleweight will be replacing Chris Leben (Pictures) as Bisping's opponent in London on June 7.
Leben was sentenced to 35 days in jail last Thursday following a probation violation that stemmed from an old DUI charge. With his release scheduled for less than two weeks before the June 7 bout in London, the UFC pulled Leben from the card and inserted Day. v The 29-year-old, who holds a 17-5 record, told Sherdog.com that he feels all of his hard work over the years is finally paying off.
"Everything is falling into place," Day said. "It's just clicking, and I'm loving it."
Lol at the meeting with Eddie Bravo.

Mixed martial arts has a perception problem in the United States. From the guy who runs CBS saying it was a mistake to sign a deal with EliteXC to athletic commission officials saying there's more drug use in MMA than in boxing to negative stories in the Washington Post and Associated Press, a lot of casual American sports fans are left with the impression that the sport is savage and dangerous.
But the reality is that MMA in the United States is far more advanced than MMA in other countries in terms of taking the health of fighters seriously. Take this from Dave Meltzer's piece about this weekend's Dream.3 show:
Japanese MMA is still a completely different animal than the UFC, because the former has no governmental regulation. There is no steroid testing. Many of the matches are made at the last minute, and in one case, a fighter, Melvin Manhoef, was in the ring just two weeks after taking a knockout in a kickboxing match, something that would never be allowed in a major U.S. commission state.

ProElite.com, the world’s premier mixed martial arts (MMA) social networking and entertainment Web site, today unveiled its online offering of video-on-demand (VOD). Leveraging their industry-leading library of MMA events, ProElite.com’s VOD features high-quality streaming, top-notch competition, and world-class fight brands.
MMA fans will be able to purchase VOD at ProElite.com on a fight-by-fight and full-event basis starting as low as 99 cents and $4.95, respectively. Fighters include Kimbo Slice, Anderson Silva, BJ Penn, Gina Carano, Jake Shields and more going toe-to-toe in events produced by EliteXC, ShoXC, Cage Rage, ICON Sport and Rumble on the Rock. ShoXC’s undercard footage, featuring the up and comers of MMA, will be offered free of charge.
Additionally, ProElite is introducing the “ProElite Fight Pass,” which provides unlimited access to the entire VOD library and any future PPV event streams for an introductory price of $7.95 per month. Fight Pass is regularly priced at $12.95 per month.

“I'm kind of going in blind for this fight. I just trained everything for this fight. For him, there is no information at all. I just have to be 100% for everything. He's supposed to be a very good jiu-jitsu guy. Every Croatian guy is supposed to be a very good striker. I'm not taking him as just being a jiu-jitsu fight.”
Since Reljik is stepping up in competition and exposure, Gouveia feels that can only put more pressure on his upcoming opponent. “I think it's going to be a shock. His fights were in small shows. That's a factor that will be in my favor.”
When Gouveia knocked out Lambert, most would believe that his next fight would be against a top ranked opponent. While Gouveia is slightly disappointed about not getting a top ranked contender, he does not take Reljik lightly. However, he would like to get a really tough fight following this one.
“To be honest, I pulled four wins in a row. My last fights I won by submission or knockout. I was expecting a real tough (opponent). It's no problem. I fight anybody they put against me,” said the American Top Team fighter. “I want to fight a big name. If I could pick the fights I want right now, I would like to fight Chuck (Liddell) or a rematch against Keith (Jardine). They are the two guys that are in my mind right now. I'm taking this fight very seriously though. I trained very hard.”

Light heavyweight is known as the glamour division in the UFC, with the most recognizable fighters in the sport, such as Quinton “Rampage” Jackson, Chuck Liddell, and Forrest Griffin campaigning in the 205 pound weight class. Just as these three and a few others are household names in the mixed martial arts world, Wilson Gouveia of Brazil is not, but if he keeps dominating fights the way he has been, he will soon join them.
Gouveia brings a four fight winning streak into his May 24th fight against unbeaten Croatian fighter Goran Reljic as part of UFC 84: Ill Will, with his last win a spectacular knockout over Jason Lambert. Although that impressive victory inched him closer to a title shot, Gouveia admits he’s in better shape for his fight against Reljic than he was for the matchup versus Lambert.
“I feel better than when I fought Jason,” Gouveia said. “In January everyone was away from the gym. They were out traveling for Christmas and New Year’s. Now everyone’s back and my training has been more intense. I know this guy (Reljic) is a tough guy and if I beat him big things are coming up for me.”
Gouveia (10-4) knows he can’t take Reljic (7-0) lightly. The 24 year-old will be making his UFC and United States debut when he fights Gouveia, but the native of Fortaleza, Brazil isn’t looking past Reljic to the “big things” that are right around the corner for him. He knows a loss to Reljic sets him back, and that’s something Gouveia knows he can’t afford to let happen.

BIRMINGHAM, England – Cage Rage 26: Extreme played out to a new audience as part of the promotion’s 2008 jaunt around the country, and the crowd was not disappointed. The main card of the evening provided the highlights we were all looking for and was supported by an undercard full of fighters laying everything on the line in order to impress.
Crowd attendance fell somewhere into the region or 5,000 people. They appeared to really enjoy themselves, including “The Ultimate Fighter” season three winner Michael Bisping.
didnt wanna spoil it for anyone so the link has all the major info